Put piles of mulch on your plants when it is hot (it keeps the roots cool and prevents evaporation)

All new plants will be grown in the shade

NEW THINGS I HAVE TRIED

Grow tomatoes from seeds in a tomato

Put labels on my seedlings

DIARY COMMENTIts been a hot month

It reached a top of 46 degrees centigrade 115 degrees Fahrenheit! this week – not good for my plants!“Melbourne, host city for the Australian Open tennis tournament, posted three straight days of temperatures above 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 degrees Fahrenheit) for the first time in recorded history. The South Australian capital of Adelaide is experiencing its hottest streak since 1908.

“They could be people who are elderly who have succumbed to heat stroke or some exhaustion as a result of the heat,” Hill said. “The ones I am most concerned about who are isolated and live by themselves.”

Today’s forecast high for Melbourne is 37 degrees while Adelaide is expected to reach 40 degrees according to the Bureau of Meteorology’s Web site.

More than 500 firefighters are battling bushfires covering 6,000 hectares (14,800 acres) in eastern Victoria, according to the Country Fire Authority.

In the town of Booolara, 15 homes have been lost, while there haven’t been any reports of fatalities, the News.com Web Site reported.“Full article here

GARDEN DIARY COMMENTIts been pretty hot for a few weeks and all of my seedlings that I potted orignally have died. It was partly due to the fact they wern’t shady and partly the soil wasn’t draining well enough. All my plants have now got big layers of muclch on top and been moved into the shade where I can.

The basil I planted is bed C is doing pretty badly but not dead yet (the tomatoes seedlings I put into that bed died last month).The basin in the pots under the tree is fairing much better. My plants don’t like as much sun as they are getting!below are my plants

I made the decision that I am an athiest a few months ago. I always get in the debate about what atheism is well here it is.

“Atheism, as an explicit position, can be either the affirmation of the nonexistence of gods,[1] or the rejection of theism.[2] It is also[3] defined more broadly as an absence of belief in deities, or nontheism.[4]Many self-described atheists are skeptical of all supernatural beings and cite a lack of empirical evidence for the existence of deities. Others argue for atheism on philosophical, social or historical grounds. Although many self-described atheists tend toward secular philosophies such as humanism[5] and naturalism,[6] there is no one ideology or set of behaviors to which all atheists adhere;[7] and some religions, such as Jainism and Buddhism, do not require belief in a personal god.”

I should have noted the date when I planted my first stuff bt it was around begging of December so that means it has been approx 6 weeks since I planted. Whats happend?

GENERAL LEARNINGS

Must note down what I plant where I plant it and when – (seedings can look pretty similar when they are small)

I didn’t wait long enough for some seedlings to grow before I repotted them – they died

None of the mint grew at all

None of the carrots grew at all

I almost killed an aloe vera cutting a freind gave me becuse I overwatered it

Don’t plant in pots of normal soil it doesn’t drain well enough (I ended using a mix of soil potting mix and much (a third each) it seems to work better.

My plants don’t iike the heat – my seedlings are all in the shade now.

My old compost heap wasn’t composting I worked out why it was getting to hot. I moved it so it was under lemon tree and measure a 10 degree difference between the two locations last week.

Green beans grow quickly!

Basil from seed – > growing I have 5 plants that seem healthy – bt small

From Our Garden

Basil plant bought from KmartThey are growing well I found that the basil I have planted in the beds have been attacked by slugs. I have moved one such plant to a hanging basket to reduce slug attack.

From Our Garden

ChivesTHey are growing I have 3 chive seedlings

From Our Garden

Green Beans

I dug over bed D last week and added mulch to the soil and then covered with mulch (to prevent evaporation and keep the plants cool). I then planted beans. I did this because as I don’t have any compost yet I though it might be worth growing the beans to rejuvinate the soil ( I will dig the beans into the soil when they are grown).

From Our Garden

OUTSTANDING PROBLEMS

The back garden gets pretty hot (much hotter than the front – last week it was 40 degrees in the shade (this is about as hot as it gets in Melbourne). I think what is happening is that the brick floor that covers half the garden is heating up and eating the air. I need to fix this – not sure how though.

Soil contamination?

How could I go about checking this to make sure there is nothing nasty in my soil? Any Ideas?

I was listening to the survival podcast yesterday morning (one of the best podcasts about modern chemical free gardening) and it occured to me that I was not really going to get anywhere with without some proper organisation.

So far I have planted some

tomatoes, basil , chives, lettuce etc.

Many items such as tomatoes will need to be planted throughout the year so I need to build a planting calender. I have also allready lost track of what seeds I planted where so I need to get organized hence the blog. I hope that documenting my progress will make things better for me and hopefully useful for other people too

Knowledge is power only if it enables action

Life is a journey through self discovery. Knowledge is power only if it enables action, Action is is only powerful if it is congruent with your values. Values are only valuable if they are questioned.

Ten years ago I decided to start to take back control of the financial decisions in my life, to stop listening to opinions of "experts" to understand the issues so I can make plans and strategies of my own.
My interest in economics lead me to conclude that over the next decade there is to be a significant shift in worldwide economic power. Over the last few years I have been making and acting on plans to mitigate the impact of this occurrence.
Over this time I have become increasingly passionate about activities that can increase personal liberty and self reliance including subjects such as internet technologies, food production, personal energy production and general preparedness.
To help me understand the issues and act on my plans I have had to improve my skills of critical thinking, research and productivity. I use the "Trivium Method" to help me separate fact from fiction and gain actionable knowledge (wisdom). I use the "getting things done method to help increase my capability to put this knowlege into action.
More about me can be found here

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